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"Games" Boardwalk Memories

People are Different!, 1966

I had never really worked in my young life. My time was shared between going to Santa Cruz High and learning to surf. A board was a spendy item, so not being rich, a job was needed. My first attempt at the local Buick dealer was not much fun. So I wandered to the Boardwalk to seek my fortune. I remember the wooden Cocoanut Grove floors, and a variety of wonderful sights and smells enveloping my senses. I arrived at Mr. Canfield's office out on the Boardwalk. We talked a while, and a few days later I was hired to run various games. Fantasia was cool, but it took me a while to catch on. Balloon Darts were next, pretty basic, keep the boards filled with balloons, make change, and try to keep the balloon bin full. (I found this to be the most challenging; customers loved to see how many they could break by throwing their darts into the bin.) Next came Spin Art,located just below the Dipper. This is where I developed my lungs and voice. Talking in a normal tone was an effort in futility due to screaming riders, and the coaster as it moaned and groaned hurtling around the wooden track. My artistic patrons were supposed to squeeze paint of different colors from tubes onto a spinning piece of cardboard,"suitable for framing". But they liked to watch the roaring coaster,often looking up while squeezing. I'm glad the paints were water-based;I was truly a colorful guy.